If ideas come from a seed, then Sheetal Bahirat is taking that concept quite literally.
As the co-founder and CEO of Philadelphia-based Hidden Gems Beverage Company, Bahirat is aiming to fuse wellness and sustainability with the brand’s debut product: Reveal, a three-SKU line of beverages made from brewed avocado seeds. Each flavor — Grapefruit Lavender, Rose Mint and Mango Ginger — contains 15 calories and 2 grams of sugar (none added) per 12 oz. glass bottle.
Bahirat’s passion for food developed during her time working as a personal stylist, having witnessed the rising importance of healthy eating and holistic wellness within that context. But rather than a recipe, the inspiration for Reveal came from a problem that Bahirat first experienced after spending two years running a cold-pressed juice company in Bangalore: food waste, particularly from nutrient rich fruits and vegetables. Upon arriving at Drexel University in Philadelphia to study for a Master’s degree in culinary arts and science, she immersed herself in investigating sustainable food practices and researching waste reduction methods. Working alongside her future Reveal co-founder, Zuri Masud, Bahirat was drawn to study avocado seeds, which became the subject of her degree thesis.
Avocado seeds — representing 15 million pounds of food waste each week, according to the brand’s website — present a unique challenge: despite being rich in antioxidants, once removed, they don’t have a natural use occasion in most American kitchens, yet they are too hard to be easily processed into commercial compost.
“There was a whole section of food waste that I felt like was being ignored, which was food that has not commonly been used before,” she said. “I felt like it was important research to do because there are so many types of food that we don’t even think about using that are really rich in nutrients.”
Sourcing is key in making the brand’s proposition work: Reveal is currently getting its avocado seeds exclusively from restaurants, though that will likely change as it scales. Bahirat said the brand has ordered two pallets worth of seeds from a guacamole manufacturer, but that other sources — such as avocado oil producers, some of which process up to 2 million avocados per day — mean there is still plenty of runway ahead.
“The whole idea is that we have to find the right partners that grow as we grow,” she said. “I think for our stage right now and for the next stage, we’ve identified the partners that we need.”
Despite the sustainability angle, convincing consumers that they should reach for a cold avocado brew next time they’re at the cooler is a considerable challenge in itself. The product was initially trialed as a tea bag with around 600 customers before being converted into a bottled iced tea: the original formulation was brewed avocado seed extract, lemon and sugar. After gathering feedback from early adopters, two tablespoons of apple cider vinegar were added for probiotics. The drink also contains monk fruit juice concentrate for sweetness, natural flavors and malic acid.
The brand’s launch strategy is a combination of modern and established routes to market: Reveal is currently available in Philadelphia through delivery app GoPuff in single bottles for $3.79, with discussions ongoing about entering local retailers. Assuming a successful introduction in the brand’s hometown, Bahirat said she would likely next target New York City, along with moving to potential nationwide shipping through direct-to-consumer online sales.
“For the first six months or so, we are planning on having really structured experiments around our online advertising and messaging and really understand who the customer is and what the conversion rate is,” she said. “In selling direct-to-consumer, I think when you are careful in already understanding the weight and size limits (for shipping) and you make things according to that size, it can be profitable even for a beverage.”
Though working with an innovative product, Reveal is facing many of the same issues that any beverage startup usually grapples with. The company remains a two-person team working out of Rutgers University Food Innovation Center since last October. Yet in unlocking at least one of many potential uses for discarded avocado seeds, Bahirat sees an opportunity for Reveal to own the nascent space.
“My dream project is to use whatever is left after we brew the avocado seeds and make a sugar out of it because they are full of starches that break down (into sugars),” she said. “Then be able to take that sugar and ferment it into a vinegar and create a beverage that is just all the flavors of an avocado. I would love to have a beverage that is a base of avocado seed brew, then avocado seed sugar, avocado seed vinegar and avocado seed flavoring, so you could taste all the different flavor profiles.”